Iowa State displayed its best offensive stretch of the season, but still struggled with sluggish play for the majority of the game before pulling away from Buffalo in the second half. The Cyclones defeated the Bulls, 84-63, to remain undefeated on the season.

The first half especially featured polar opposite performances from the ISU offense. Right after Buffalo took a 16-15 lead, the Cyclones responded with three straight 3-pointers courtesy of Georges Niang, Hallice Cooke and Niang again, forcing a Buffalo timeout.

The timeout did little to cool off the Cyclones, as Abdel Nader got in on the action with a 3-point play the old fashioned way, followed by a regular 3-pointer to complete a 15-0 Iowa State run.

The Cyclones’ big run occurred in a short stretch of just 2:47, perhaps the best stretch of offensive basketball Iowa State has played all season. But it would be short-lived.

Iowa State saw its commanding 30-16 lead dwindle as the offense went ice cold. The Cyclones scored just four points in the final 9:05 of the half. Niang hit a pair of free throws, and Naz Mitrou-Long got loose for a layup.

The scoring drought was one of Iowa State’s worst offensive stretches of the season, but Buffalo failed to capitalize, as its offense wasn’t exactly lighting up the nets either. Despite the offensive woes, Iowa State went into the locker room with a 34-25 lead at the half.

Niang and Monté Morris began to take over the game, as the duo scored 18 of Iowa State’s first 20 points in the second half. Morris, who was held scoreless on 0-for-4 shooting in the first half hit his first four shots of the second half. Niang followed suit, hitting his first four shots of the half as well.

The ISU offense steadied out, and the Cyclones pushed out to a 64-51 lead with 6:41 remaining, eventually pulling away to a 21-point win down the stretch.

Niang would finish with a career-high 31 points and tied a career-high with 12 rebounds. He was the catalyst for Iowa State in the second half, scoring 21 of his 31 in the second half.